Size between 28 cm. to 30 cm. and weigh between 200 to 250 g. Upper parts are green-glossed black, with bright orange-yellow patches of naked skin and fleshy wattles on the side of its head and nape. Plumage is green-glossed black, with purple-tinged on the head and neck. Hill myna is monogamous. Large white wing patches which are obvious in flight but mostly covered when the bird is sitting. Hill myna have range of loud calls – whistles, wails, screeches, and gurgles, sometimes melodious and often very human-like in quality. They produce an extraordinarily wide range of loud calls – whistles, wails, screeches…………

Hill myna is a omnivorous bird. They feed on fruits, berries, seeds, Flowers, insects and lizards. Nesting and breeding season is between March to October. They build a nest in hole. Nest a collection of grasses, leaves, and feathers in a tree hole. Both sexes searches for this small hole. They usually occur in pairs and do occur in small groups. Their flight is rapid and direct, and in flight their wings produce the same whirring sound………….

Distinctive Identification

Size between 28 cm. to 30 cm. and weigh between 200 to 250 g. Upper parts are green-glossed black, with bright orange-yellow patches of naked skin and fleshy wattles on the side of its head and nape.

The crown, nape, and breast has a purple glow, while the rest of the body is tinted with green and the tail is polished turquoise.

Bill and strong legs are bright orangish yellow, and there are orangish yellow wattles on the nape and under the eye.

Plumage is green-glossed black, with purple-tinged on the head and neck. Large white wing patches which are obvious in flight but mostly covered when the bird is sitting.

Classification

Common Name – Hill myna

Local Name – Mynah

Zoological Name – Gracula religiosa

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Chordata

Class – Aves

Subclass – Neornithes

Order – Passeriformes

Family – Sturnidae

Genus – Gracula

Conservational Status – Schedule – I bird, according to wildlife (Protection) act, 1972 and classified as Least Concern (LC) by the IUCN.

Distribution

Hill myna is found Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats of India, east and north-east India east to southern China, and south through south-east Asia to Palawan, Borneo, and Flores. Also native to eastern India, southern China, Indochina, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Himalayan foothills up to about 2500 ft., also occur through Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, and the lower Himalayas.

Habit and habitat

Hill myna like areas where rainfall and humidity are both high. They prefer jungles, evergreen, and wet deciduous forests. They occurs in moist or semi-evergreen forest in lowlands, hills and mountains.

Hill myna is monogamous. They usually occur in pairs and do occur in small groups. Their flight is rapid and direct, and in flight their wings produce the same whirring sound.

Hill myna have range of loud calls – whistles, wails, screeches, and gurgles, sometimes melodious and often very human-like in quality. They produce an extraordinarily wide range of loud calls – whistles, wails, screeches, and gurgles.

Hill myna is a omnivorous bird. They feed on fruits, berries, seeds, Flowers, insects and lizards. Nesting and breeding season is between March to October.

They build a nest in hole. The usual clutch is 2-3 eggs. Nest a collection of grasses, leaves, and feathers in a tree hole. Both sexes searches for this small hole.

Eggs 2 to 3, deep-blue, sparsely spotted and blotched with reddish-brown or chocolate. The incubation period often lasts between 14 to 18 days. Both sexes incubate eggs, but female spends more time incubating than the male, however, both parents tend the young equally when they hatch.